Spur perform the Alan Jackson number: 'Wish I was a Freight-train Baby' at the Rockfield Country Music Festival
SPUR, voted 'Duo of the Year 2009' by The British Country Music Awards.
Wish it was a freight train baby
Wish it was a diesel locomotive
I'd come whistling down your track crashing in your door.
Wish it was a freight train baby
Wish it didnt have a heart
You need a shovel for the coal just to get me started
Wish it was a freight train baby
Wish it was a freight train baby
Wish it was a freight train.

Labi Siffre (born 25 June 1945) is a British poet, songwriter, musician and singer.
In Abergavenny in 97 Labi Siffre was the main performer in a programme which included: Monmouth's 'The Mighty Pledge' and 'Neil Kinnock' in converstation with 'Victor Spinetti'.
In this video clip he performs his hit single 'Something Inside so Strong', amongst the best of all of the protest songs.
Siffre's work; compositions, poetry or performance, is powerful always in that it reflects his own deeply felt views. Views he has been unafraid to express using whatever political platform is appropriate. In that respect his career bears some resemblence to the French singer/songwriter Francis Cabrel.
It may be thought that many of the battles Siffre fought with such courage in the late 90s have been conclusively won, but I suspect that he would hold the view that prejudice takes many forms and that in any case vigilance is the best watchword.
Apologies for some of the sound quality: an in-camera microphone and of course the analogue technology of the time. But as ever, proof that a powerful live performance is often better than the colder atmosphere of the recording studio. ENJOY!
Labi Siffre can be followed on: http://www.intothelight.info

Chris Mayfield made a promise to honour his old friend ‘Rex Pruitt’, late of Green County Kentucky, by releasing a single of his song ‘Merely Me’. This YouTube video celebrates the launch of the song with Chris performing ‘Merely Me’ his way. But it’s a song that everyone will be able to relate to in their own way, and nothing would please Chris and his friends more than you downloading ‘Merely Me yourself. Who knows you may be persuaded to sing along ‘Your Way’!
iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/merely-me-single/id912285546?uo=4
SPOTIFY:
http://open.spotify.com/album/1npfciSUoKBTX3Lqs4h2HH

Gonna Keep Rolling reckons the excellent Eric Faulkner with his Bay Street Rollers, here at Monmouth Festival. Written by Nick Lowe and a big hit in Japan at the time, and the Monmouth audience loved it!

The CherryBeats at the Monmouth Festival recall the Monkees hit, the Last Train to Clarksville.
Boyce and Hart wrote this as a protest to the Vietnam War. They had to keep this quiet in order to get it recorded, but it is about a guy who gets drafted and goes to fight in the war. The train is taking him to an army base, and he knows he may die in Vietnam. At the end of the song he states, "I don't know if I'm ever coming home."
Bobby Hart: "We were just looking for a name that sounded good. There's a little town in Northern Arizona I used to go through in the summer on the way to Oak Creek Canyon called Clarksdale. We were throwing out names, and when we got to Clarksdale, we thought Clarksville sounded even better. We didn't know it at the time, [but] there is an Air Force base near the town of Clarksville, Tennessee - which would have fit the bill fine for the story line. We couldn't be too direct with The Monkees. We couldn't really make a protest song out of it - we kind of snuck it in." (Songfacts)

Newport Gwent Dragons, Wales International and Rugby World Cup Star, Dan Lydiate, answers questions from the young rugby players of Monmouth RFC.
In the 2012 Six Nations Championship, Lydiate received the Player of the Tournament award after featuring in every game bar the opener against Ireland and receiving man of the match awards against Scotland and France

Mark Latimer Trio at The Queen's Head Monmouth.
MARK LATIMER Reviews:
"ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE MUSICIANS TO HAVE EMERGED IN YEARS - A CATALYST" CADENCE MAGAZINE
"CRITICS' OPINIONS OF PHENOMENAL BRITISH PIANIST MARK LATIMER MAY SOUND LIKE HYPERBOLE UNTIL YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED THE ARTIST AT WORK, AT WHICH POINT THEY SOUND LIKE UNDERSTATEMENTS INSTEAD" THE GUARDIAN

The Siren Sisters, following in the footsteps of the Andrews Sisters, are a blonde, brunette and red-head combo from Wales who recreate that sound of the 40's. Retro red lips, silk stockings combine with milk and honey harmonies, and two of them are real sisters!
The opening set features: swing Swing Swing and Three Little Sisters.

The Redhillbillies with their version of the Kris Kristofferson smash, 'Me and Bobby McGee'. Kristofferson alleges that this song was influenced by the film 'La Strada'. Amongst others the song was recorded by: Janis Joplin, Gordon Lightfoot, The Grateful Dead.

Chris Mayfield and The Rhythm Rats.
CHRIS MAYFIELD: 20 years a musician in England and Europe......20 years a musician in America......Working his way over those 40 years from Kent to Kentucky via London . Amsterdam . California . New Orleans . Mississippi . Memphis . Nashville . Chicago and New York. Playing his own style of swampy chuggin down home music.